Table For Talkers
Sermon
Cross Purposes
Sermons for Lent and Holy Week
The success of a dinner depends as much on fellowship as on food. This fellowship takes place through conversation. A banquet of friends buzzes like a beehive. Did you notice it or maybe you were too busy talking to have heard it? A dinner is a miserable occasion when two or more people sit down and eat their meal in a cold, bitter silence, because there is nothing for them to communicate. This dinner conversation need not be pleasantries or chit-chat, but it can be talk of substance. This was the case with the conversation at Martin Luther's dinner table. Invariably he had professors and students eat with him daily. During and after the meal, while still at the table, they would get into living dialogue. Invited guests recorded some of the talk. Today it is known as Luther's Table Talk. Of all Luther's books, probably this one is best known and most enjoyed.
On the first Maundy Thursday, Jesus, through two disciples, makes arrangements for him and his Twelve to eat together the Passover Meal, an annual religious festival observing the miraculous deliverance of the Jews from bondage in Egypt. We usually think of the Last Supper as a time when Jesus transformed the Passover Meal into the Lord's Supper. We often forget that, at the Lord's Table, there was much conversation. It was Jesus' last time as a fellow human to talk intimately and uninterruptedly with his closest friends. The account of the conversation is in Luke's twenty-second chapter. The Last Supper was a time of communication.
Talk That Troubles
The Lord's Table then is a table for talkers. What was the talk on that first Maundy Thursday night? What do we talk about when we celebrate the Lord's Supper? For one thing, it was talk that troubles. In verse twenty-two Jesus says, "One of you shall betray me." Did Jesus here break a rule about table conversation? The general rule is that one should not bring up anything unpleasant at the dinner table. It is too hard on the digestion. It upsets people and they cannot enjoy their food. Can you imagine how upset the Disciples got when Jesus made the announcement of his betrayal? They were shocked to the point of amazement and unbelief. You can hear them saying, "Ah, Jesus, you must be kidding! No one of us would do a terrible thing like that. Each one of us is your friend."
The reaction to the betrayal announcement was, "Lord, is it I?" This seems like a ridiculous question, because if anyone knew he was going to do something as bad as that, he would certainly know it. This was an honest question which was asked by each one at the table. It is honest because none of us knows what he will do in the future. We know what we have done in the past. We are sure of what we do in the present. But when it comes to the future, nobody can be sure. We think we will do so-and-so tomorrow, but who knows what he will do? There are tensions and pressures that will come upon us that we do not now have. How will we react to the future situation? For instance, take a woman in a Russian concentration camp. Her husband and children are free in West Berlin and are waiting for her release. A guard offers the woman her freedom at the price of sexual intercourse. Would you do that to get free to join your loved ones? Now you probably say with emphasis that it would be totally out of the question. But, if that should some day be your lot, is there a possibility you would consent? In these days of political corruption, we have been quick to judge and condemn the offenders. However, stop to think: If you were in the shoes of John Dean or John Mitchell, with all of the strains, pressures, and the peculiar situations these men were in at the time, do you think you would have done differently? Who knows? Who can answer? No one can be sure what he would do. The spirit may be willing, but the flesh may be weak.
When we come to the Lord's Table tonight, this question is on our minds. We ask it of ourselves. "Is it I, Lord?" The answer is, "Yes, it is I. I have let you down, Jesus. I have denied you. I have betrayed you. If I have done this in the past, I am liable to do it again." This makes us come to the Table with a sense of sin and with a sense of complete unworthiness. We come to the Table because we are sinners, for the purpose of the meal is to assure us of mercy and forgiveness. Jesus said the wine-blood was for the remission of sins. So, as I come to the Table and kneel here at the rail, I am talking to Jesus, "Lord, it is I. Please forgive me."
Talk That Touches
The Lord's Table is also a table for talk that touches. In verse 19, Jesus takes bread and says, "This is my body." He takes the cup and says, "This is the blood of the new covenant ..." With this talk, Jesus literally touches us in a concrete and intimate manner.
This is not new to us, because we often admit that we are touched by what someone says to us. We tell preachers that, by their sermons, they have walked on our toes. What a person says in love may cause tears to come to our eyes because we are deeply touched. Some words go straight to the heart, either to heal or to hurt. Words can move us, uplift us, and inspire us as well as tear us down to a point of despair.
Jesus' words touch us in a very special way. He combines the words with the elements of bread and wine. He tells us to eat and drink these elements, to take them into our bodies. Since the bread is his body and the wine is his blood, Jesus comes into us through the physical elements. In other words, Jesus wants to identify with us, to be one with us, to crawl under our skins, to become part and parcel of us. This is a normal desire of those who love because, on a human plane, lovers cannot get close enough to each other. They are not content until they touch each other. Ever see lovers sit on opposite ends of a sofa?
This means that the Lord's Supper is the Christian's highest privilege on earth. Through the body and blood of the Sacrament on the Table, Jesus comes closer to us than at any other time or in any other way on this earth. We experience a mystical union with him. It is a Transfiguration experience. It is a situation of ecstasy. We are raised to the third heaven. It is as Paul said, "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me." In the light of this, is it not foolish for us Christians to deny ourselves this holy experience with Christ by neglecting the Holy Communion?
Talk That Torments
At the Lord's Table on that first Maundy Thursday, there was also talk that torments. We are told by Luke that during the course of the meal a dispute arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. Can you believe it? They just had the shocking announcement of the betrayal. They received the body and blood of their Master. Obviously Jesus was tense and had things on his mind, serious things of his impending arrest, betrayal, and execution. You would think that the Twelve would have been more concerned about him than about themselves. Talk at a table can be tormenting. It can be rude and crude and cruel. We can be insensitive to the feelings and needs of those at the table.
Jesus heard this talk and he had to give a reply. It was a golden opportunity for him to teach his men a lesson before he died. He decided to talk nonverbally. We see him rise from the table, tie a towel around him, take a basin of water, and kneel down to wash the feet of each of his Disciples. No wonder they were embarrassed by his action! Peter became vocal about it and declared he would not allow it. The whole thing was out of place, most improper. The master should not be serving the slave. Jesus insisted upon washing the feet of each one, including Peter. When he resumed his place, he explained what he did. He said, "I am among you as one who serves. I have given you an example that you should do to one another."
There is talk that we should never forget. It gives us an insight into the true nature of Jesus and what his purpose was in coming on earth. "The Son of man came to serve, not to be served." The Christian is one who lives to serve in a very humble way out of love. We need to hear this table talk again in our time, because some of us have apparently never heard it. We still want to be greatest in the world, in our club, in our business, even in our church. We tend to live only for ourselves. We like the chief seats. We relish prominence and publicity. We are out for first place and we live to take care of Number One. This is illustrated by the current popularity of mirrors in home decorations. Mirrors are almost everywhere. In some cases an entire wall is covered with mirrors. A mirror's purpose is to see yourself. It makes us self-centered. Our world revolves around us.
This is contrary to the teaching, spirit, and example of Jesus. This is the last thing he taught us: to render out of love humble service. The truly great person is he who gives himself to others in terms of helping them. Each can do this in his own way according to his station and opportunity. A woman once said to a lady preacher, "I just wish that I could preach like you do and through it to really serve in a big way." But the preacher pointed out that she could serve equally well and effectively as a wife and mother through her home, community, and church. You can be as great in Jesus' opinion by washing feet or by preaching a sermon in a cathedral.
Talk That Teaches
The Lord's Table is a table for talkers. It is a talk that teaches. At a dinner table we often learn something new from the conversation. Some one usually asks, "What's new?" When someone gives information not heard before, the person replies, "I didn't know that!"
At the Last Supper, Jesus said something he never said before in the three years of his teaching. After passing the bread and then the wine, Jesus said, "This do in remembrance of me." For emphasis, he said it two times that we would not forget it. It was that important to him. He knows how prone we are to forget even the things that should never be forgotten, even the best things that happen to us. Time has a way of making us forget the biggest things of the past. One wonders how it would be possible for anyone to ever forget a person like Jesus, his words, his personality, his miracles. But, Jesus knew we would. Thus, he commanded, "Do this ..."
This means that coming to the Lord's Supper is not a matter of choice. It is not one of options. Coming to the Lord's Supper is a matter of obedience to Jesus. In some churches, an active member is determined by the fact that he comes at least once a year to the Holy Communion. If he does not obey this command, it reveals that he has forgotten Jesus and his faith has dissolved. Yet, it is sad to say that in the average congregation, forty percent of the members neglect coming to the Lord's Table.
In addition, Jesus teaches something else that is new. He gives a new commandment. He said in the Upper Room, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you ..." It is a command to love each other. What is new about that? In the Old Testament there is a command to love God with all of your heart, mind, and strength. In Leviticus, we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. That command to love is as old as the hills. What then is new about it? Why did Jesus say he had a new commandment? What was new about it was in the words, "As I have loved you." No one ever loved as Jesus did. He loved unselfishly, sincerely, wholly, sacrificially. He loved with the purest of motives.
Christians are to love each other just as Jesus loved in his day. Of course, non-Christians love each other. The difference is in the quality of love. No one loved like Jesus. If Christians love like Jesus, then their love is different, superior. But, is this true about our Christian love? Does the world say, "See how those Christians love each other"? Is the world recognizing us as Christians by the love we have for each other? Do we really care for each other as fellow Christians? Would you be willing, as Jesus was, to die for a fellow Christian? This is the lesson of love that Jesus talked about at the Last Supper. Maybe we ought to talk about it when we receive the Sacrament of the Altar.
There was much talk at the Lord's Table on that first Maundy Thursday. While we are engaged in the Communion service or kneeling at the Communion rail, we today may not talk as much as then. But, we do talk. In fact, we talk by saying nothing. We talk by our action. Listen to Paul: "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." By being here, by coming from your pew to the rail for Communion, you are saying something to God, to Christ, to the church assembled, and to the world. You are saying, "I am a sinner and I come for forgiveness. I love Jesus and I want to be one with him. I believe in Jesus and I intend to serve him all the days of my life." You see, it is true: the Lord's Table is a table for talkers!
On the first Maundy Thursday, Jesus, through two disciples, makes arrangements for him and his Twelve to eat together the Passover Meal, an annual religious festival observing the miraculous deliverance of the Jews from bondage in Egypt. We usually think of the Last Supper as a time when Jesus transformed the Passover Meal into the Lord's Supper. We often forget that, at the Lord's Table, there was much conversation. It was Jesus' last time as a fellow human to talk intimately and uninterruptedly with his closest friends. The account of the conversation is in Luke's twenty-second chapter. The Last Supper was a time of communication.
Talk That Troubles
The Lord's Table then is a table for talkers. What was the talk on that first Maundy Thursday night? What do we talk about when we celebrate the Lord's Supper? For one thing, it was talk that troubles. In verse twenty-two Jesus says, "One of you shall betray me." Did Jesus here break a rule about table conversation? The general rule is that one should not bring up anything unpleasant at the dinner table. It is too hard on the digestion. It upsets people and they cannot enjoy their food. Can you imagine how upset the Disciples got when Jesus made the announcement of his betrayal? They were shocked to the point of amazement and unbelief. You can hear them saying, "Ah, Jesus, you must be kidding! No one of us would do a terrible thing like that. Each one of us is your friend."
The reaction to the betrayal announcement was, "Lord, is it I?" This seems like a ridiculous question, because if anyone knew he was going to do something as bad as that, he would certainly know it. This was an honest question which was asked by each one at the table. It is honest because none of us knows what he will do in the future. We know what we have done in the past. We are sure of what we do in the present. But when it comes to the future, nobody can be sure. We think we will do so-and-so tomorrow, but who knows what he will do? There are tensions and pressures that will come upon us that we do not now have. How will we react to the future situation? For instance, take a woman in a Russian concentration camp. Her husband and children are free in West Berlin and are waiting for her release. A guard offers the woman her freedom at the price of sexual intercourse. Would you do that to get free to join your loved ones? Now you probably say with emphasis that it would be totally out of the question. But, if that should some day be your lot, is there a possibility you would consent? In these days of political corruption, we have been quick to judge and condemn the offenders. However, stop to think: If you were in the shoes of John Dean or John Mitchell, with all of the strains, pressures, and the peculiar situations these men were in at the time, do you think you would have done differently? Who knows? Who can answer? No one can be sure what he would do. The spirit may be willing, but the flesh may be weak.
When we come to the Lord's Table tonight, this question is on our minds. We ask it of ourselves. "Is it I, Lord?" The answer is, "Yes, it is I. I have let you down, Jesus. I have denied you. I have betrayed you. If I have done this in the past, I am liable to do it again." This makes us come to the Table with a sense of sin and with a sense of complete unworthiness. We come to the Table because we are sinners, for the purpose of the meal is to assure us of mercy and forgiveness. Jesus said the wine-blood was for the remission of sins. So, as I come to the Table and kneel here at the rail, I am talking to Jesus, "Lord, it is I. Please forgive me."
Talk That Touches
The Lord's Table is also a table for talk that touches. In verse 19, Jesus takes bread and says, "This is my body." He takes the cup and says, "This is the blood of the new covenant ..." With this talk, Jesus literally touches us in a concrete and intimate manner.
This is not new to us, because we often admit that we are touched by what someone says to us. We tell preachers that, by their sermons, they have walked on our toes. What a person says in love may cause tears to come to our eyes because we are deeply touched. Some words go straight to the heart, either to heal or to hurt. Words can move us, uplift us, and inspire us as well as tear us down to a point of despair.
Jesus' words touch us in a very special way. He combines the words with the elements of bread and wine. He tells us to eat and drink these elements, to take them into our bodies. Since the bread is his body and the wine is his blood, Jesus comes into us through the physical elements. In other words, Jesus wants to identify with us, to be one with us, to crawl under our skins, to become part and parcel of us. This is a normal desire of those who love because, on a human plane, lovers cannot get close enough to each other. They are not content until they touch each other. Ever see lovers sit on opposite ends of a sofa?
This means that the Lord's Supper is the Christian's highest privilege on earth. Through the body and blood of the Sacrament on the Table, Jesus comes closer to us than at any other time or in any other way on this earth. We experience a mystical union with him. It is a Transfiguration experience. It is a situation of ecstasy. We are raised to the third heaven. It is as Paul said, "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me." In the light of this, is it not foolish for us Christians to deny ourselves this holy experience with Christ by neglecting the Holy Communion?
Talk That Torments
At the Lord's Table on that first Maundy Thursday, there was also talk that torments. We are told by Luke that during the course of the meal a dispute arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. Can you believe it? They just had the shocking announcement of the betrayal. They received the body and blood of their Master. Obviously Jesus was tense and had things on his mind, serious things of his impending arrest, betrayal, and execution. You would think that the Twelve would have been more concerned about him than about themselves. Talk at a table can be tormenting. It can be rude and crude and cruel. We can be insensitive to the feelings and needs of those at the table.
Jesus heard this talk and he had to give a reply. It was a golden opportunity for him to teach his men a lesson before he died. He decided to talk nonverbally. We see him rise from the table, tie a towel around him, take a basin of water, and kneel down to wash the feet of each of his Disciples. No wonder they were embarrassed by his action! Peter became vocal about it and declared he would not allow it. The whole thing was out of place, most improper. The master should not be serving the slave. Jesus insisted upon washing the feet of each one, including Peter. When he resumed his place, he explained what he did. He said, "I am among you as one who serves. I have given you an example that you should do to one another."
There is talk that we should never forget. It gives us an insight into the true nature of Jesus and what his purpose was in coming on earth. "The Son of man came to serve, not to be served." The Christian is one who lives to serve in a very humble way out of love. We need to hear this table talk again in our time, because some of us have apparently never heard it. We still want to be greatest in the world, in our club, in our business, even in our church. We tend to live only for ourselves. We like the chief seats. We relish prominence and publicity. We are out for first place and we live to take care of Number One. This is illustrated by the current popularity of mirrors in home decorations. Mirrors are almost everywhere. In some cases an entire wall is covered with mirrors. A mirror's purpose is to see yourself. It makes us self-centered. Our world revolves around us.
This is contrary to the teaching, spirit, and example of Jesus. This is the last thing he taught us: to render out of love humble service. The truly great person is he who gives himself to others in terms of helping them. Each can do this in his own way according to his station and opportunity. A woman once said to a lady preacher, "I just wish that I could preach like you do and through it to really serve in a big way." But the preacher pointed out that she could serve equally well and effectively as a wife and mother through her home, community, and church. You can be as great in Jesus' opinion by washing feet or by preaching a sermon in a cathedral.
Talk That Teaches
The Lord's Table is a table for talkers. It is a talk that teaches. At a dinner table we often learn something new from the conversation. Some one usually asks, "What's new?" When someone gives information not heard before, the person replies, "I didn't know that!"
At the Last Supper, Jesus said something he never said before in the three years of his teaching. After passing the bread and then the wine, Jesus said, "This do in remembrance of me." For emphasis, he said it two times that we would not forget it. It was that important to him. He knows how prone we are to forget even the things that should never be forgotten, even the best things that happen to us. Time has a way of making us forget the biggest things of the past. One wonders how it would be possible for anyone to ever forget a person like Jesus, his words, his personality, his miracles. But, Jesus knew we would. Thus, he commanded, "Do this ..."
This means that coming to the Lord's Supper is not a matter of choice. It is not one of options. Coming to the Lord's Supper is a matter of obedience to Jesus. In some churches, an active member is determined by the fact that he comes at least once a year to the Holy Communion. If he does not obey this command, it reveals that he has forgotten Jesus and his faith has dissolved. Yet, it is sad to say that in the average congregation, forty percent of the members neglect coming to the Lord's Table.
In addition, Jesus teaches something else that is new. He gives a new commandment. He said in the Upper Room, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you ..." It is a command to love each other. What is new about that? In the Old Testament there is a command to love God with all of your heart, mind, and strength. In Leviticus, we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. That command to love is as old as the hills. What then is new about it? Why did Jesus say he had a new commandment? What was new about it was in the words, "As I have loved you." No one ever loved as Jesus did. He loved unselfishly, sincerely, wholly, sacrificially. He loved with the purest of motives.
Christians are to love each other just as Jesus loved in his day. Of course, non-Christians love each other. The difference is in the quality of love. No one loved like Jesus. If Christians love like Jesus, then their love is different, superior. But, is this true about our Christian love? Does the world say, "See how those Christians love each other"? Is the world recognizing us as Christians by the love we have for each other? Do we really care for each other as fellow Christians? Would you be willing, as Jesus was, to die for a fellow Christian? This is the lesson of love that Jesus talked about at the Last Supper. Maybe we ought to talk about it when we receive the Sacrament of the Altar.
There was much talk at the Lord's Table on that first Maundy Thursday. While we are engaged in the Communion service or kneeling at the Communion rail, we today may not talk as much as then. But, we do talk. In fact, we talk by saying nothing. We talk by our action. Listen to Paul: "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." By being here, by coming from your pew to the rail for Communion, you are saying something to God, to Christ, to the church assembled, and to the world. You are saying, "I am a sinner and I come for forgiveness. I love Jesus and I want to be one with him. I believe in Jesus and I intend to serve him all the days of my life." You see, it is true: the Lord's Table is a table for talkers!
